Wolsey

• 5 categories Wolsey served his King

  • Wealth of the Crown
  • Order & administration
  • Law
  • Spiritual/ Church administration
  • Enclosures
• 5 ways Wolsey impacted wealth of the crown

  • Act of resumption 1515
  • Subsidy Tax 1513 &1523
  • Forced loans
  • Amicable Grant 1525
  • Personal wealth
• How did Wolsey serve King well with the Act of Resumption 1515?


  • returned land lost by the Crown to the nobility in previous civil wars
  • increased crown income & assets
• How did Wolsey serve King badly with Act of Resumption 1515?

  • it was bitterly opposed by some of the nobility
• How did Wolsey serve King well with Subsidy tax 1513 & 1523?


  • to work alongside fifteenth and tenths which didn't represent true distribution of wealth, nor had been revised in line w inflation
  • the Subsidy was a flexible, fairer tax system - the greater your wealth, the more you pay
  • W raised £325,000 by this new tax (1514-29)
• How did Wolsey serve King badly with subsidy tax?

  • 1523 parl saw serious arguments about level of taxation needed to pay for war against Fr - refused Wolsey to levy the tax at rate of 4 shillings for every pound & only allowed him rate 2 shillings in the pound
  • wolsey had asked parl for taxes worth £800,000 but had to settle for £200,000
• How did Wolsey serve King well with forced loans?

  • introduced form of forced loans on nobility, towns & regions in 1522-23 to raise extra funds for war
  • raised around £240,000 for crown
• How did Wolsey serve King badly with forced loans?

  • very unpopular - those forced to lend money understood they may never get it paid back
  • amount raised was insufficient to pay for new French war
• What was the Amicable Grant?

  • In 1525 following the Battle of Pavia where the French King Francis had been captured, Henry sought the funds to launch a new third invasion of France
• How did Wolsey serve King well with the Amicable Grant 1525?

  • took blame for its unpopularity despite it being Henry's idea - shielding the King & gov
• How did Wolsey serve King badly with the Amicable Grant 1525?

  • very unpopular - tax rate too high, 1523 Subsidy still being collected & Forced Loans had not been repaid
  • people resented a tax for a new war since money paid to fund 1523 invasion of France been wasted when invasion failed
  • In Suffolk 10,000 rebels revolted against amicable grant, whilst unrest simmered elsewhere
  • tax rapidly abandoned but left Wolsey's reputation permanently tarnished & many people bitter (inc parliament who Wolsey had tried to bypass)
• How did Wolsey serve King well with his personal wealth?

  • wealth as a 'servant' reflected well on King himself
  • court of 400-500 people helped Cardinal impress foreign visitors - also be used to awe domestic rivals, ensuring stability in the kingdom
• How did Wolsey serve King badly with his personal wealth?

  • Was richest person in the country (10x income of nearest rival)
  • had highest level of purchasing power of anyone in history of eng
  • but no apparent need for wealth - made him a target for opponents
  • dubious - money made from posts held, fees levied on church court cases & 'gifts'. Prepared to steal e.g. plundered estates of the dead Earl of Derby, which he was 'looking after' until Earl's heir turned 18
• 4 ways Wolsey impacted order & administration

  • centralisation of power
  • Eltham Ordinances 1526
  • Relations w parliament
  • Relations w nobility
• Wolsey's centralisation of power - positives

  • achieved Papal Legate status in 1518 (temporarily) & then permanently in 1524 - now had near complete control over English church - effectively gave King control over much of the Church & led to centralising of power in the crown
  • e.g. Kings control shown when Wolsey bowed to Henry's will to appoint Henry Standish as Bishop of Asaph in 1518 instead of his own preferred candidate
  • Strengthened the Crown's power by appointing Justices of Peace to decide on legal matters in English counties - reducing power of local nobles
• Eltham Ordinances 1526 - Wolsey positives 


  • attempt to repair the chaotic finances of the Royal Household
  • unnecessary jobs eliminated - e.g. 12 Gentlemen of Privy chamber cut to 6
  • access to King to be reduced
  • those paid to perform household duties would no longer be able to delegate work to others
  • hangers-on were expelled from court
  • appoints now to be based on merit
  • measures made sound financial sense
• Eltham Ordinances 1526 - Wolsey negatives

  • reality was they were a series of measures by Wolsey to gain more power
  • by reducing Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber he could reduce noble's access to Henry & remove specific opponents like Sir William Crompton, Groom of the Stool, and Thomas & George Boleyn (Anne's brothers) - caused much resentment
  • once rivals removed W soon lost interest in Ordinaces & reform of gov as whole - suggest they were introduced solely for self-interest
  • what's more, most of those W sought to exclude soon worked their way back into court
• Wolsey good relations with Parliament

  • parl of 1523 considered success (according to Peter Gwyn) since large amount of money raised by the Subsidy (£150,000-£200,000) and 15 new laws were passed
  • Gwynn also argues Wolsey had no need to call parl 1515-23 since eng was at peace & because since it had been so generous in granting Crown new taxes 1513-15 Wolsey had no urgent need to seek extra funds
• Wolsey's bad relations with Parliament

  • was arrogant and expected parl to agree to all of his & Henry's policies
  • therefore became indignant when they 'caused trouble' as in 1515 criticised when they Church e.g. Hunne Case where church accused of murder
  • arrogance = failed to work well w parl & angered MPs - by asking for too much money for wars and for attempting to introduce the non-parliament approved Amicable Grant tax
  • Didn't summon parl 1515-23 - instead ran country without their 'advice' - some argue was because he'd made an enemy of parl
• Wolsey's good relations with the nobility

  • relationship generally considered to be one of mutual toleration & co-operation (at least while eng prospered)
  • W didn't wish to 'break' nobility, merely bend it to will of king
  • Henry was the harsh, untrusting one, not Wolsey- e.g. Wolsey had tried to warn the Duke of Buckingham as to his dangerous behaviour & had little involvement in his arrest, trial and execution - was largely work of Henry's paranoia, not W's malice
• Wolsey's bad relations with the nobility

  • W's unpopularity led him to be blamed for Duke of Buckingham's execution e.g. by Duke's son
  • any resentment nobility held towards Chief Minsiter potentially threatened good government & stability of the realm
  • nobility always retained a degree of hostility towards this 'low born' cleric who'd made himself so rich & powerful
  • nobles like Lord Howard, Duke of Norfolk and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, played role in W's downfall
  • his partially pro-French foreign policy angered many nobles who saw French as natural enemy
• 3 courts under Wolsey

  • Court of the Star Chamber
  • Court of Chancery
  • Court of Requests
• Court of the Star Chamber - positives 


  • used to root out cases of perjury & contempt of court amongst the nobility - proving no one was above the law
  • e.g. 1516 Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland was imprisoned for contempt of court whilst Lord Hastings & Lord Burgavenny were prosecuted for keeping retainers - strengthen Crown's authority
  • Wolsey sat several times a week so court dealt with 10x the amount of cases it had done before he became Lord Chancellor
• Court of the Star Chamber - negatives

  • Wolsey's prosecution of nobility made him rich & powerful enemies
  • some believed he was less interested in justice & more in conducting vendetta against upper classes, since they looked down on his own low-birth
• Court of Requests - successes

  • grew in popularity under Wolsey
  • ordinary people, esp the poor and women, were able to get their legal cases heard more quickly & cheaply than under ordinary common law courts
• Court of Chancery - successes


  • handled matters such as wills, property disputes, contracts etc
  • could overturn or regulate common law court decisions if deemed unfair
  • Wolsey increased the Court's workload & created a number of important legal judgements (precedents) which shaped aspects of English law for generates - creating important legacy
• Court of Chancery & Court of Requests - failures 


  • were huge problems w common law courts at this time so ordinary people's access to justice in this period was limited
  • Wolsey's increasing of the workload merely tinkered with a legal system that required a much more fundamental overhaul - reforms did not go nearly far enough
• General Wolsey successes in order & administration

  • had genuine interest in law & justice
  • took pleasure in ensuring rights of ordinary men & women were maintained against the rich & powerful - Wolsey often favoured poor & often waved the legal fees they owed him
  • tried to fix prices to prevent exploitation e.g. 1518 introducing the 'Just Price' mechanisms to control the price of meat in cities
• General Wolsey failures in order & administration

  • quite happy to trample poor people's rights when it suited him e.g. in land disputes w his own properties
  • used legal system as means of exercising control. Used it for revenge e.g. Sir Amyas Paulet had humiliated him in past so he forced Paulet to have to appear before the courts every day for 5 years, on pain of losing all his property. Also had MP Robert Sheffield imprisoned on unjust charge of compliance to murder in revenge for speaking out against Church in 1515 parliament
• Enclosures - Wolsey success

  • made some efforts to stop greedy landowners enclosing common land
  • 1517 he launched a nationwide investigation into enclosed land & successfully prosecuted 220 landowners out of 260 charged w illegal enclosure - proof of desire to tackle situation
• Enclosures - Wolsey failures

  • failed to stop the practice of enclosure - tackling instead in a piecemeal manner
  • largely abandoned anti-enclosure in 1523 in a deal with Parliament (made up of landowners) in return for their voting taxes for Henry's Second French War
  • some speculated he opposed enclosures, not to help poor, but to spite the rich nobles & gentry who looked down on him because of his low-birth
• 3 main areas of Wolsey's impact on spiritual matters (control & management of the church) 


  • Wolsey's control over the Church & treatment of the Pope
  • Wolsey's jobs & abuses of the church
  • Church reforms, tackling heresy & the dissolution of 30 minor monasteries
• Wolsey's control over Church & treatment of the Pope - failures 


  • blocked Pope's attempts to create a general European peace treaty & crusade against the Ottoman Empire in 1518 until he’d been appointed a temporary Legate.  Then he hijacked the plan and organised a European peace deal himself - England gained all the prestige, whilst the crusade idea was dumped
  • once he gained permanent Legate positon he largely ignored Pope - cost him later when he unsuccessfully asked Pope to grant Henry divorce
• Wolsey's control over the Church & treatment of the Pope - successes 


  • Wolsey was loyal to the king, not the Pope
  • acquired so many church positions for himself & supporters (1523 controlled 13 of 23 English & Welsh bishoprics) that he gained clear control over Church - power of Pope reduced, power of monarchy increased
  • Papal Legate status 1524- now had near complete control over English church - gave King control over much of the Church - e.g. Wolsey bowed to Henry's will to appoint Henry Standish as Bishop of Asaph in 1518 instead of his own preferred candidate
• Wolsey's jobs & abuses of the church - positives

  • although he plundered the Churches wealth to fund his lifestyle, extravagance was usual for dignitaries of the Church at this time, esp those ho held gov jobs too
  • was Henry who suggested Wolsey make himself Abbot of St Albans
• Wolsey's abuses of the church

  • church funds paid for extravagant lifestyle
  • pluralism was unparalleled in English history - e.g. was both Archbishop of York & Bishop of Durham (1523-29), despite not setting foot in either area (absenteeism) - at one point held 7 diff church positions at same time
  • took jobs for money, doing none of spiritual work positions entailed - made himself Abbot of St Albans, richest monastery in Eng (despite not being a monk)
  • Gave bishoprics to non-resident Italian supporters in Rome e.g. Cardinal Campeggio made Bishop of Salisbury in 1524.
• Wolsey's church reforms - successes

  • attempted to improve priests' education - formed Cardinal's College in Oxford (1525) & a grammar school in Ipswich
  • came up with reform ideas e.g. increasing no. of bishoprics
  • used legate powers to reform corrupt monasteries e.g. the unruly abbey in Thame
• Wolsey's church reforms - failures

  • made no serious attempt to make Church a better institution
  • milked organisation for everything he could get from it
  • one monastic reform became notorious when monks in Greenwich were imprisoned & excommunicated
• Wolsey's successes in tackling heresy

  • banned Lutheran books in 1521
  • later arrested suspected heretics in 1526
• Wolsey's failures in tackling heresy

  • critics argued he didn't care about spiritual matters or about what people really believed if they presented no threat to stability of the state
  • e.g. he ‘let off’ Hugh Latimer in 1525 for preaching against Catholic priests’ corruption and merely banned Thomas Bilney from preaching in 1527, after he’d campaigned against the worship of icons & saints.